Pneumatic press-feeding means.



' Patented Feb. 27,1917.

1 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

llVI/E/VTOR J. -DUVALL.

PNEUMATIC PRESS FEEDING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR I6 I916 W/T/VE E8 n Kfrfi 1. DUVALL. PNEUMATICPRESS FEEDING MEANS.v

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 16, 19.16-

1,217,16 1. Patented Feb. 27, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W/7WE 858' JAMES DUVALL, .OF CAMAS, WASHINGTON.

PNEUMATIC PRESS-FEEDING MEANS.

terial to other means for operating thereon,

and more particularly relates to the feeding of all sizes of bags to abag printing press. It is an improvementupon the press feeding meansdisclosed in my patent granted December 5, 1916, Number 1,207,149, andhas in combination the hollow, slotted feed roll therein described,which has greatly simplified this type of press feeding mechanism.

Its-principal object is to draw the bottom unit of stacked material fromthe adjustable rack in which it is held in a horizontal plane, the frontend and the back end of such unit being moved downward at the same time,so that the whole unit, when its front end is brought into engagementwith the feed rolls is substantially parallel with the bottom of therack. This adjustable rack is substantially the same as the onedescribed very fully in my patent dated December-14, 1915, v

Number 1,164,585, lines 90 to 103 inclusive, with the exception that theadjustable plate 9 is somewhat shorter and allows the suction element toengage the lowermost unit close to its back edge. In my former suctionfeed devices of this type, the front end only of the bottom unit isdepressed and enters the feed rolls at an angle, with the weight of thestacked material resting on the portion not withdrawn from the rack.large units this friction becomes very noticeable and interferes withthe rapid manipulation of the press. In the mechanismdescribed herein,and illustrated by the drawings of a bag printing press of common form,this defect is entirely overcome, and the whole bag is withdrawn fromthe feed rack with one movement and when the feed rolls take it there isno friction from the above cause to overcome whatsoever, which enablesthe press to be run much more rapidly and with a certainty of result notheretofore attainable. All carrier belts and nipper devices are doneaway with.

In handling Specification of Letters Patent. Patentgfl Feb. 27 191"ZApplication filed March 16, 1916.

Serial No. 84,547.

pression cylinders 1 and 2, feed rolls 3 and i .4, and the suctionelement 5. Fig. 3 is a plan, with the feed rack 6 removed, showing topof suction box 5 and openings 3 in the hollow, slotted feeder r0113.Fig. 4 is an end elevation looking at thepress from the suction or feedend. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of reciprocating suction part, showingyoke 31 attached to the suction pipes 20 and 21, and opening in guide 27(same for 28), allowing freedom of movement when suction element ispressed down by the cams 7 and 7. 'Fig. 6 is a plan of the suction box5, showing orifices 5. Fig. 7 is an end. elevation of reciprocatingsuction part, showing details of actuating mechanism. Fig. 8 is asectional elevation of suction well 28, header l8 and suction pipes 20and 21,.showing how suction pipe 22 can be raised and lowered, with itslower and open end sealed by a fluid at 25; for the sake of clearness,the header 18 has been given a quarterturn so as to show both thesuction-pipes 20 and 21. Fig. 9. is a perspective of cut-off airvalve'll, showing relation of cams 7 and 9; when lever 10 is presseddown by cam 9 the suction is active and cam 7 is at its period of vleastthrow, allowing the suction box 5 to reach its highest point against thebottom unit in the feed rack 6.

Figs. 1 and 2 show diagrammatically a bag printing press with typecylinder 1 and impression cylinder 2 and two feeder rolls 3 and 4.justforward of the pinch between the type and impression cylinders. Roll 3is a hollow, slotted feeder roll, with a longitudinal opening therein,3, about ninety degrees wide, as shown in Fig. 8. This roll is incontact with the impression cylinder 2 and is located justunder theforward end of the bottom of feed rack 6. The idler roll 4 is in contactwiththe hollow feeder roll -3, but there is a clearance between it andthe impression roll. The material to be operated upon is stacked in thefeed rack 6 one unit on top of the other, and the bottom of therack isso constructed that the undermost unit of the vertical stack can be removed therefrom downwardly. To accom plish this I employ a suctionelement that re: I

ciprocates up and down, toward and away from the bottom'unit of thematerial stacked in the feed rack. The top of the suction box is shapedlike a T, as in Fig. 6, with the head of the T under the forward end ofthe rack and the long part extending toward the back. Several openingsor orifices, 5",

are made in the top of the suction box, so

that when the suction is active the back as well as the front of thebottom unit will be firmly engaged by the suction box. Two suction pipes20 and 21 connect the suction box 5 with a hollow header 18, Fig. 8, anda single pipe 22, attached thereto, slips over extension 24 of the mainsuction pipe 12 and inside of pipe Pipe 23 is firmly aflixed to its base26, as is also pipe 2&- and the pipe 2 is movable up and down in theannular space between these two pipes 23 and 21. Oil. is poured into thepipe 23, sufficient in quantity to effectually seal the open end of pipeand thus the suction not impaired when the pipe moves up and down in itsireciiprocatii'ig action. Air is drawn from the suctlon box 5 throughpipes 20 and 21, the header 1S, pipes 22 21 and the main pipe 12. Figs.5 and 7 illustrate very plainly how the up and down movement is impartedto the suction element. A yoke 31 is firmly aflixed to the pipes 20 and21, carrying suction header or box To this yoke guides 27 and 28 areattached and at their lower ends they carry the pusher arm H, rigidlyclamped thereto. Rods 16 and 17, with shoulders 34, 35 and provided withsprings 13 and 15, form the bottom part of guides 27 and 28 and thelower ends of the rods are free to move up and down in the openings inthe base 26 in which they are placed. Guide boxes 29 and 30, throughwhich the cam shaft 32 passes, keep the suction element in verticalalinement. On cam shaft 32 are mounted cams 7 and 7 which engagerespectively the rollers 8 and 8 on push arm 14L. A cam 9 is also placedon cam shaft 32 which engages lever 10 of air cut-off Valve 11. As camshaft 32 revolves, the cams 7 and 7 push the arm 14: downward and thusthe suction box 5. is lowered. The open coil springs 13 and 15 are thuscompressed, pushing upward. on rods 16 and 17' and keeping rollers 8 and8 in close con tact with cams 7 and Wet all times. As the cams approachtheir period of least throw the tension of the springs raises thesuction box 5 to its upward limit. At the proper time the lever 10 ofair valve 11 is depressed by cam 9 and the suction becomes active.

In the operation of the press feeding means thus described, theadjustable rack 6 is filled with the material to be operated upon, oneunit stacked on top of the other in a vertical pile and the undermostunit held in such manner that it can be drawn from the bottom of thestack. lhe suction box 5 is shown at its highest point in Figs. 1 and 2,with its top surface in contact with the under surface of the bottomunit. T he relation of the cams on cam shaft 32 when the mechanism is inthis position is shown in Fig. 9; the cams 7 and also 7, (not shown),are at their period of least throw and the lever 10 of ail valve 11 hasbeen pressed down by cam 9 to open suction pipe 12, and thus the bottomunit of the stack is firmly held by the suction box 5. As the cam shaft32 revolves, the cams 7 and 7* push on arm 14 and the suction box 5,with the bottom unit firmly held thereby, draws the whole unit fromunder the stack. As the suction box reaches its lowest point, theforward end of the unit which. it has withdrawn from the pile in therack is deflected by the hollow, slotted feeder roll 3 until it entersthe pinch between it and the idler roll l and just at this moment thesuction is shut oil by the cam 9 releasing lever '1 (l of the air valve11 and the unit, in this case a paper bag, is rapidly drawn off thesuction box and between the feed rolls 3 and 4 and thence passed betweenthe type and impression cylinders and dropped on to the conveyer 14. Asthe cams revolve and cease to push against arm ll, the springs raise thesuction box once more into contact with the bottom unit in the rack, thecam 9 causes suction to become active and. the movements above describedare repeated until all of the units of material have been operated uponas desired.

I claim,

1. In a pneumatic feed for presses of the type described, with anadjustable feed rack which holds vertical stack of material and allowsthe bottom unit to be drawn-downwardly therefrom, a suction box directlyunderneath said rack so proportioned that it will engage both the frontand the back portions of the under surface of the bottom unit,withdrawing same from the rack in a substantially horizontal plane freefrom contact with any superimposed unit, means forimparting an up anddown movement to the suction box and. means for control ling the suctionat predetermined intervals.

2. In a pneumatic feed for presses of the type described, with anadjustable feed rack which holds vertically stacked material and allowsthe bottom unit to be drawn downwardly therefrom, a suction boxunderneath said rack so proportioned that it will engage both the frontand the back portions of the under surface of the bottom unitwithdrawing same from the rack in sub stantially a horizontal plane freefrom contact with any superimposed unit, a hollow, longitudinallyslotted feeder roll which is in contact with the impression roll andwhich engages the entire forward. edge of the bottom unit, means formoving the suction box up and down and means for con trolling thesuction at predetermined intervals.

3. In a pneumatic feed for presses of the type described, with anadjustable feed rack which holds vertically stacked mate rial and allowsthe bottom unit to be drawn downwardly therefrom, a suction boxunderneath said rack so proportioned that it will engage both the frontand back portions of the under surface of the bottom unit withdrawingsame from the rack in substantially a horizontal plane free from contactwith any superimposed unit, a hollow, longitudinally slotted feeder rollwhich is incontact with the impression roll and which engages the entireforward edge of the bottom unit, an idler feed roll. in contact with theslotted feed roll, means for moving the suction. box up and down andmeans for controlling the suction at predetermined intervals.

in a pneumatic feed for presses of the type described, with anadjustable feed rack which holds vertically stacked material and allowsthe bottom unit to be drawn downwardly therefrom, a suction boxunderneath said rack so proportioned that it will engage both the frontand the back portions of the under surface of the bottom unitwithdrawing same from the rack in substantially a horizontal plane freefrom contact with any superimposed unit, cam actuated means toreciprocate the suction element up and down and cam actuated means forcontrolling the suction at predetermined intervals in relation to thereciprocating movement of the suction element.

5. In a pneumatic feed for presses of the type described, with anadjustable feed rack which holds vertically stacked material and allowsthe bottom unit to be drawn downi'ardly therefrom, a suction boxunderneath in the header, an outer pipe which incloses the lower part ofthis vertical suction pipe, an inner vertical suction pipe concentricwith said vertical suction pipe from the header, two vertical guide armsattached to the suction pipes leading from the suction box, a cross-barattached to the lower end of said guide arms, a small roller at each endof the cross-bar, a vertical extension rod affixed to the lower'endofeach guide arm, an open coil spring on each rod, cams to engagerespectively the rollers on the cross bar, an air valve on the mainsuction pipe, a cam to engage the lever of the air valve atpredetermined intervals, a hollow, longitudinally slotted feed roll incontact with the impression roll and an idler feed roll in contact withthe slotted roll.

(3. The method of feeding vertically stacked units to a press whichconsists of drawing by suction means a single unit downward from thebottom of the stack in substantially a horizontal plane so that itsentire forward end will come into en gagement with the feed rolls and nopart of the material in the stack will rest on the unit so withdrawn atthe time of its engagement with said feed rolls.

7. The method of feeding vertically stacked units of material to a presswhich consists of drawing by suctionmeans a single unit downward fromthe bottom of the stack in substantially a horizontal plane so that itsentire forward end will come into engagement with the mechanism thatconveys it to the printing cylinders and no part of the material in thestack will rest on the unit so withdrawn at the time of its engagementwith the subsequent feed mechanism.

8. In a pneumatic feed for presses of the type described, a movablesuction element having a bottom vertical suction pipe, an innerconcentric stationary suction pipe therein, means for sealing the slipjoint between the movable and stationary parts of the suction pipe andmeans for reciprocating the movable suction element.

JAMES DUVALL. Witnesses:

H. D. KENNEDY, J. D. HoLeoMB.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

